News and Stories

Chick from Cincinnati Zoo among candidates for wild release

One special bird from Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden departed last week to join nine other Sihek (SEE-heck – also known as Guam kingfisher) chicks from facilities scattered all over the United States in a bio secure quarantine facility at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They are all candidates for wild release later this year!

As many as eight of the birds in quarantine are expected to head to Palmyra Atoll to join nine Sihek, including three from Cincinnati Zoo, that were released on this predator-free island in the Pacific in 2024 as an attempt to reestablish this species in the wild.

The ultimate goal is for this species to fly again on the North Pacific island of Guam, their native home, one day. The colorful bird flourished there until the accidental introduction of the brown tree snake wiped them out in the 1940s. The last wild Sihek there were brought into Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited facilities in the mid-1980s to start a conservation breeding program, saving the species from total extinction.

The upcoming transfer to Palmyra Atoll will mark only the SECOND time in 40 years that new members of this species will live in the wild. This location was selected because it is largely predator-free and fully protected. The Nature Conservancy’s Palmyra Preserve is encompassed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife and by the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, one of the largest swaths of ocean and islands protected in the world.  All nine birds that were sent to the island in 2024 are thriving and have even laid eggs!

“As the project continues, it becomes even more imperative to succeed in all the aspects of what we do here at Cincinnati Zoo,” said Aimee Owen, senior aviculturist from Cincinnati Zoo. “The first release year kind of felt like a building year, making sure we had the basics down and that we knew the birds could succeed.  More guidelines and expectations are set now, and I feel that it’s really time for the program to shine. We can’t wait to see how this new crew of birds adapts to the island and how two seasons of youngsters develop this habitat and their territories together.”

The international collaboration project known as the Sihek Recovery Program has been working behind-the-scenes with Sihek populations in human care to hatch and fledge enough genetically diverse birds to preserve the species and establish a healthy wild population.

The Sihek Recovery Program will determine which birds of the ten now quarantined at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will make the 5,400-mile journey to Palmyra. Excitingly, six of the ten are females, which are grossly outnumbered by 2:1 to males in the overall managed AZA population. The ten Sihek came from the following facilities:

Brookfield Zoo Chicago
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
National Aviary
Oregon Zoo
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sedgwick County Zoo
Saint Louis Zoo

The Sihek Recovery Program will give the birds official names, but Owen affectionately called the Cincinnati bird that’s now at Disney “Ava” while she was here.  “This was the name of our summer intern from the University of Guam, who we learned so much from over the summer.  I really got a good picture of her home in our daily conversations, and it was cool to have her here to be a part of saving a species that we hope will return to Guam someday!”

These releases will ideally be repeated annually until 20 Sihek successfully establish as breeding pairs at Palmyra. Project members will continue to track and monitor those released, as they hopefully raise the first wild-born Sihek chicks since the 1980s. To date, several pairs have successfully created nests and laid eggs, however, the first hatch is still eluding the wild pairs.

The last wild sighting of Sihek was in 1988, and the birds are now considered Extinct in the Wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

NOTES

Cincinnati Zoo

• Currently have 17 Sihek.  Six are established breeding pairs. Two young birds hatched this summer are viewable in the Birds of the World building.  Two females from last season are awaiting less extreme weather to move on to other zoos this fall and hopefully become mamas next season!
• If our chick does not go to Palmyra, she will come back to Cincinnati and most likely become part of our AZA sihek community to continue adding to the population in human care.

Sihek Recovery Program:  

The Sihek Recovery Program is a global collaborative of conservationists dedicated to recovering one of Guam’s most iconic native species, the Sihek (Guam kingfisher,  Todiramphus cinnamominus) The Sihek Recovery Program is made up of partners from the above and the following organizations: US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Guam Department of Agriculture – Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (Guam DAWR), Zoological Society of London (ZSL), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Sedgwick County Zoo, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The CHamoru people refer to the Guam kingfisher as Sihek.

*“CHamoru” (capitalizing “CH”) is recognized by the CHamoru Language Commission as the orthographically correct spelling.

Key Messages

– The expertise in animal care conservation translocation and wild population recovery held by partners makes us world leaders in protecting species on the edge of extinction.

– Zoos play a vital role in protecting and recovering the worlds most threatened species like the Sihek, which have been completely lost from nature and are now only found under human care

Key Stats

– There are only 143 Guam kingfishers in the world currently, being cared for across 23 facilities around continental US and Guam

– Sihek became classified as Extinct in the Wild in 1988

– 29 of the last wild Sihek were brought into human care in the mid-1980s to start a conservation breeding program, saving the species from extinction.

– Sihek lifespan under human care is 15-20 years

– As one of just 14 land birds native to Guam, Sihek are culturally important to CHamoru* people as part of their connection to and knowledge of place, as well as their oral and cultural history.

– This first wild population in over 35 years has the potential to grow the global Sihek population by an estimated 46%, helping to safeguard the species against extinction.